Disease & Epidemics
Health & Medicine
SUDEP: The Silent Killer
Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) is a rare but fatal condition that claims the lives of people with epilepsy, often during sleep, with no apparent cause. While famous cases have brought visibility to the condition, countless others die unwitnessed; the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, though seizure-related cardiac and respiratory failures are suspected.
Stigma and Silence: Epilepsy in Cameroon
A public health worker reflects on fieldwork with persons with epilepsy in Cameroon, documenting the severe social stigma—particularly against women—that compounds the medical burden of the condition. The piece asks why neurological disorder carries such different moral weight than other chronic illnesses, and calls for compassion over judgment.
I Have Epilepsy, But It Is Not My Social Identity
A medical professional and epilepsy advocate examines the gap between the neurological reality of epilepsy and the social stigma that surrounds it in Africa, where the condition is widely attributed to witchcraft, demonic possession, or curses rather than understood as a treatable brain disorder. The piece centers on how this stigma—particularly acute for women—becomes a social identity imposed from outside, with profound psychological and material consequences.
The Gravity We Cannot Afford: COVID-19 and the Limits of Prevention in Cameroon
Written in April 2020 as the pandemic reached Cameroon, this essay argues that standard public health measures—social distancing and confinement—are structurally incompatible with how African societies, and Cameroon in particular, are organized economically and culturally. The writer contends that without material support and systemic change, preventive measures will fail because survival itself takes precedence.
How Long Are We Going to Stay Indoors? Economic Resilience and Pandemic Duration
Written in early April 2020, this piece examines whether modern societies can sustain the social distancing necessary to control a pandemic comparable to the 1918 influenza. The writer argues that while historical evidence shows social distancing reduces deaths, our interconnected global economy makes prolonged lockdown psychologically and financially unsustainable—and calls for structural economic redesign to prepare for future pandemics.
Understanding Anorexia Nervosa: Causes, Signs, and a Path to Recovery
This essay examines anorexia nervosa in detail—its psychological and social causes, the constellation of physical and mental symptoms sufferers experience, and concrete steps toward healing. It emphasizes that recovery is slow and that prevention requires rejecting fat-shaming and harmful weight-loss tactics.
Corona Virus: Spread Information, Not Panic
Written in early March 2020 as COVID-19 began circulating globally, this post challenges what the writer sees as reckless fear-mongering by medical professionals in Cameroon. By presenting case fatality rates, severity breakdowns, and age-stratified mortality data, the writer argues for calm, evidence-based communication and correct public health guidance.
Melissa Ndip's Letter to Her Unborn Daughter
Written for Poise's first writing challenge, this letter from Melissa Ndip—a early contributor who died of sickle cell complications days after publication—offers her daughter five lessons on life: that beauty exists within hardship, that integrity matters more than others' approval, that faith is inseparable from ambition, that dreams require explicit planning and persistence, and that untapped potential lives in every person.
Tramadol and the Opioid Paradox in Cameroon
A medical perspective on tramadol abuse in Cameroon, situating it within a broader landscape of substance misuse among young adults while arguing for controlled prescription protocols rather than outright prohibition. The writer identifies tramadol as a 'necessary evil'—essential for pain management yet vulnerable to abuse—and proposes a harm-mitigation framework centered on doctor-only dispensation and vendor accountability.